Seven Seas Beacon Fire

"But regardless, we shouldn't have given ourselves away in the port. That Tang Dynasty cruiser was probably just a coincidence..."

"That cruiser appearing in a Chilean port is no coincidence!" Inukai Nagato exclaimed angrily. "Saito-kun, I think your navy had better accept reality now!"

As Saito Juichiro's old rival, Army Minister Inukai Eisaku knew Saito Juichiro all too well what kind of person he was. Because at this moment, as a relatively outsider, Inukai Eisaku saw him even more clearly. He knew that his old rival, like himself and most of the people of Yingzhou, had the same personality.

People from Yingzhou are inherently afraid of troubling others, especially because of their own mistakes. So when a problem occurs, their first instinct is not to correct it or resolve it as quickly as possible, but rather to pretend that the problem doesn't exist.

Once the problem starts to escalate, the first thing to do is to claim that it is just a minor issue and a small trouble, and then to try to solve it within one's own capabilities or authority.

If the problem can be solved, then everyone is happy. If the problem worsens and cannot be solved, then it should be reported only when it is absolutely necessary to delay.

In reality, by this point, even if the matter is reported to a higher level, there is often nothing that can be done. If it were a troublemaker, at this point, they would often say something like, "We could have done something back then, but it's too late now." However, the Japanese usually just commit seppuku in this situation.

It's a real shame that this good practice turned into bowing decades later. Looking back now, it's terrible that such a fine tradition wasn't preserved.

"But theoretically, there shouldn't be any leaks... The personnel our navy selected for this operation are all absolutely reliable!"

"Absolutely reliable? Back then, the navy had the most people who ran off to the mainland with that traitor Tokugawa!" Inukai Eisaku's words, spoken more in anger than by his subconscious attack on Saito Juichiro, served as a wake-up call for Prime Minister Takahashi Daisuke and Foreign Minister Mukata Kunio.

The Tokugawa family!

That surname is still quite taboo in Yingzhou.

Although the former Tokugawa Shogunate is now being labeled as a rebel by the new Yingzhou government, everyone knows that since Lord Ieyasu, the Tokugawa Shogunate has been the de facto ruler of Yingzhou. Although the nobles are nominally the lords of Yingzhou and the lineage is unbroken for ten thousand generations, the samurai have been in control of Yingzhou for more than ten generations. Although the entire archipelago has been cleaned up and screened before, who can clean up such things completely?

Who can guarantee that there isn’t anyone in the current Yingzhou government and military who still harbors gratitude towards the Tokugawa family and has been lying low and enduring until now?

"Yes, the Tokugawa family is currently in Tang China. It's said that Tokugawa Ietatsu even gave his youngest daughter to the Tang emperor's grandson as a slave, living a life of extreme misery. Although their survival in Tang China has already disgraced Lord Ieyasu, it's likely that some people within the country are still misled by them and continue to supply them with intelligence..."

Crown Prince Zhaoren put on an air of knowing everything, but what he said made everyone present feel uneasy.

Those who know a little about the inside story know that before the outbreak of the war, the court nobles and the samurai had already considered the matter of the union of the court nobles and the samurai—after all, this matter had been discussed for a long time since the late 20th century. Originally, if nothing unexpected happened, Tokugawa Akiko should have married Crown Prince Akihito, and Crown Prince Akihito had long heard of this darling of the Tokugawa family and had long coveted this first beauty of the Tokugawa family.

It wasn't just because marrying this little princess of the Tokugawa family would allow him to effectively promote the unification of the imperial court and the military, and he himself might be able to fully take over the power held by the Tokugawa shogunate in the future. More importantly, Crown Prince Akiko was, to some extent, a romantic, and after secretly meeting Tokugawa Akiko once, he fell deeply in love with her.

But as we all know, what happened later was that the Tokugawa Shogunate did suffer for a while after retreating to the mainland. However, as the Tokugawa Shogunate took the initiative to send their beloved daughter to the Prince of Li Jin's residence, her life got better and better.

As for Crown Prince Zhaoren's sarcastic remarks about being a slave or maid... the people of Yingzhou are well aware of their own limitations. Not to mention that he is now the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, even if it were the former Prince Li Jin's residence, it would not be something the Yingzhou royal family could challenge. Even if the Tokugawa family is still the ruler of Yingzhou, they would not expect their little princess to become the Crown Prince's wife of the Tang Dynasty. They would be happy to have a concubine.

However, everyone had to consider the Crown Prince's feelings, so they all nodded in agreement. These reformist ministers had to face a reality—their plan had probably never been kept secret from the very beginning.

At this point, we must consider the issue from the perspective of the Tang Empire. Assuming that the Tang Empire now knows everything, how would they react to these two battlecruisers?

Chapter 259 Stop it! (2)

"You have done a good job." Li Zongdi put down the memorial in his hand and nodded to Tokugawa Ietatsu, who was sitting on the chair in the Imperial Study with only half of his buttocks touching the ground. "The Tokugawa Shogunate has proven with its actions that the Tokugawa family is the best defender of the friendly relations between our two countries, which are separated only by a narrow strip of water."

Tokugawa Ieda's face revealed obvious joy and a hint of fear. As a true "homeless dog" in politics, the future and fate of the Tokugawa family now depended entirely on the Tang Dynasty.

Although he had previously gambled by sending his youngest daughter to the Li Jin Prince's Mansion, he was betting that the Li Jin Prince's Mansion had a much better reputation than Emperor Yongning, a harsh and ungrateful emperor. He was betting that the Li Jin Prince's Mansion would reciprocate, allowing the Tokugawa family to gain a foothold on the mainland and seize the opportunity to return to Japan in the future with the help of Tokyo University.

However, the current treatment the Tokugawa family receives on the mainland and their current situation are still better than he had even most optimistically predicted.

Tokugawa Ieda's gaze fell on the young couple sitting opposite him. The two young people had just been whispering to each other with their heads very close together. Now that they had straightened up, the earring on Tokugawa Akiko's ear was still dangling in the air.

Both Li Zongdi and Tokugawa Ieda noticed the subtle actions of the young couple over there. Li Zongdi didn't say anything, but Tokugawa Ieda was secretly pleased.

He also knew that His Highness the Crown Prince clearly wanted to be closer to Princess Yongning of the previous dynasty. He had learned about this in detail from a letter written to him by his daughter. He had previously urged Tokugawa Akiko to "win over" Li Che as soon as possible, but Tokugawa Akiko replied that while developing a relationship with the Crown Prince was important, her relationship with Princess Yongning was even more important.

As the saying goes, "climbing the social ladder and attaching oneself to the powerful," when applied to the Crown Prince, he might not care much about "climbing the social ladder," but if he were to disrespect Princess Yongning, he would certainly be very unhappy.

After reading it, Tokugawa Ieda suddenly realized that although it was unclear whether the relationship between Princess Yongning and the Crown Prince was the same as that between Empress Ma and Emperor Hongwu, it was at least similar to that between Ajiao and Emperor Wu.

It's hard to say whether a Wei Zifu will be killed in the future, but at present, Tokugawa Akiko certainly isn't.

It seems that Tokugawa Akiko and the Crown Prince have a very harmonious relationship. In particular, the Crown Prince is clearly a man who wants to make a name for himself, especially in the navy. The Tokugawa family may not have much else, but they have many connections in the Japanese archipelago even now.

In particular, the Tokugawa family cannot expect those people on the island to remember the past favors of the shogunate and immediately rise up in rebellion. However, secretly passing on information is certainly not a problem. Not to mention those loyal ministers and righteous men, even those noble families are the same. Since ancient times, it has always been about hedging your bets, hasn't it?

"The Tokugawa family simply did what they were supposed to do." Tokugawa Itatsu cupped his hands in greeting. His Chinese was originally not very good, but he had worked hard to improve it over the years since he came to China. However, probably because he had found a Tianjin native to teach him Chinese, his accent now sounded like he was about to start a stand-up comedy routine.

"But kid, since General Tokugawa already gave this information to the Navy before, why is it only now that the Navy has presented it to us?"

“Reporting to Grandfather,” Li Che said, bowing slightly from his seat, “This is a warning that the Naval Intelligence Bureau received a while ago from an officer within the Yingzhou Navy who is still loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate. That officer said that the Yingzhou Navy is secretly gathering a group of officers and soldiers to go to Chile, saying that they are going to take over the capital ships.”

After receiving this news, the Navy intensified its monitoring. Initially, we thought that Yingzhou wanted to acquire the Chilean Navy's Admiral Torrae battleship, or to have the Chilean Navy continue to purchase and complete the unfinished ship of the same class, and then resell it to the Yingzhou Navy. However, we learned from other intelligence sources that the Chilean Navy has no plans to sell its only super-dreadnought in the near future, nor does it have any plans to complete and purchase the ship of the same class that it has with the Victoria Empire.

Since the previous reports were isolated cases with no corroborating intelligence, we couldn't devote much more energy to this matter beyond further monitoring the Chilean Navy's movements. The Naval Intelligence Department receives a vast amount of intelligence and information daily, requiring significant manpower to sift through and analyze it, selecting the important pieces for processing. Information lacking further progress wouldn't be reported lightly, especially not to Grandpa. You're usually quite busy….”

"If you think what I'm saying is insincere, you don't have to say it." Li Zongdi glared at Li Che with annoyance. "It's not like dealing with memorials counts as being busy with state affairs. Right now, there are a lot of things related to the economy and the epidemic. Your father could handle these things better if he were to oversee the country. Your grandfather is a rough and uncouth warrior. What I'm best at in this life is fighting with swords and spears. You can't see the energy I usually spend on disarmament and military reform, can you?"

"Of course I can see it. Grandpa has worked so hard, and I wish I could share his burden." Li Che immediately showered him with flattery and praise. This old man is like a child; it's really a headache to coax him. Although what the old man said was true, you're a saint now...

Forget it, you're a saint now, and everything a saint does is right.jpg

Li Zongdi knew that the boy was only outwardly compliant but inwardly resentful. Of course, the old man also knew that he, as a saint, was somewhat neglecting his duties. After all, the things he was busy with should strictly be the work of the generals. But who could blame him when the old man still demanded of him the same standards of a military commander?

"Alright, since you didn't understand before, what's going on now? Do you understand now?"

"There are two main reasons. First, we have to thank the Tokugawa Shogunate for its influence in Japan. The Japanese naval officer who sent us the message wrote a code in a letter to his wife back home. His wife then managed to get the message to us. Although the code information that can be conveyed in a letter is very limited, we still know that those who went to Chile were traveling by ship to the Victorian Empire."

The second point actually stemmed from special intelligence from the Kingdom of Gaul. Their intelligence department in the Victorian Empire discovered that the Royal Navy of Victoria was preparing to sell two battlecruisers to Chile, but the United States of Colombia was heavily involved in this deal…

"Wait a minute, the Gallic Kingdom's intelligence network in the Victorian Empire?" Li Zongdi felt like his brain was about to crash.

However, Li Che's expression was one of utter certainty: "Is there a problem, Grandpa?"

After a moment of silence, Li Zongdi nodded: "No problem, let's continue."

Yes, no problem. What's wrong with the Gallic Kingdom having an intelligence network within the Victorian Empire? That's perfectly normal. If one day the Gallic Kingdom's intelligence department's budget is cut so that it can only maintain one intelligence network outside the country, then what they will retain will definitely be the intelligence network within the Victorian Empire.

"Although we cannot speculate on what the Gallic Kingdom's intentions were in proactively revealing this information to us, based on the information conveyed by the Yingzhou naval officer, we have reason to believe that the Yingzhou Navy and the Colombian Navy were trying to get Chile to purchase these two Victorian Empire battlecruisers on their behalf, and we finally confirmed this yesterday."

"Is it the cruiser mentioned in the report, the one from our navy that was confirmed to have spotted those two battlecruisers in the Chilean naval port?"

“That’s not all,” Li Che said. “The Victorian Empire’s envoy conveyed a message from Downing Street—the Victorian Empire was unaware of the real buyer behind this arms deal beforehand.”

"Did the Victorian Empire tell us about this yesterday?"

"Yes."

Where are those two boats now?

"We have now arrived at a port in Chile."

Does the Prime Minister know about this?

“I know. He should come in and discuss this matter with you in more detail after we leave,” Li Che said.

Li Zongdi slammed the memorial in his hand onto the table: "Zhi'er, if you were in charge of handling this matter, what would you do?"

Hearing that his nickname had been changed from "brat" to a pet name, Li Che replied decisively and seriously: "Intercept them! Send out our fleet to intercept these two battlecruisers before they reach Yingzhou!"

-------------------------------------

PS:

To be honest, I've been quite moved by the news these past two days. Let me share my thoughts on Ozawa. Although he has a short-sighted political vision and is too naive about political revenge, he does bear a great deal of responsibility for Ukraine's current predicament (he believes whatever NATO tells him). But this guy is really tough.

I genuinely suggest that if Europe really does become a coward and abandons Ozawa in the future (which seems quite likely to me), he'd better either shoot himself in the head or take a gun to the front lines.

That's a good question: why is the punishment reduced by one degree for dying for one's country? Because history really only cares about your attitude. Death can prove that everything you did in the past was a methodological error, not a value error.

Chapter 260 A single punch opens the way (1)

"Send warships to intercept them directly?" Li Zongdi twirled the globe with its brass base on the table, his fingertip lingering on the western Pacific plate. The gold tassels on his navy blue marshal's uniform trembled slightly, and the worn brass buttons on his cuffs spoke of the hardships he had endured—these two brass buttons were specially taken from his grandfather's old military uniform.

Give me your reasons.

Li Che stood up, his military boots making a soft thud on the teak floor: "Grandfather, have you ever heard of the salami slicing tactic? In addition to Victoria selling warships to Bharat, their cruiser fleets are increasingly crossing the Strait of Malacca to patrol the South China Sea. Since Colombia withdrew its troops, its naval survey ships have repeatedly attempted to reach our coastline—they are probing and cutting into our maritime borders with surgical precision."

"Slicing sausage?" Li Zongdi thought for a moment and then immediately understood: "It's a very apt description. This is the first time I've heard someone describe it so aptly."

"However, this is not a new strategy. On the contrary, the 'salami slicing' tactic is a classic strategy in international relations and diplomatic negotiations. Its core is to advance the goal in a gradual and incremental way, avoiding a strong backlash from the opponent due to an overly aggressive one-time action. Each step is taken in a small way, which may seem insignificant, but it can accumulate to achieve a major breakthrough."

"So that's why you think we should immediately use force to intercept them at sea?" The old emperor took off his monocle, breathed on it, and wiped it with a cloth. As his eyesight began to fail with age, the old man couldn't do without this thing if he wanted to read anything. But whether it was just his imagination or not, after putting it on, the old man's originally sharp, hawk-like gaze began to become cloudy.

"Yes, but the enemy has already made their move. We cannot compete with them within their comfort zone. The core of the salami slicing tactic is to control every action within the 'threshold' that the opponent can tolerate, so as to avoid directly triggering confrontation."

By making multiple small probes or adjustments, the status quo is gradually changed, making it difficult for the opponent to determine when a strong counterattack is needed.

By taking gradual actions, we test the tolerance and intensity of the opponent's response, while observing the attitude of the international community.

If the opponent does not strongly resist, proceed to the next step; if resistance is encountered, pause or adjust the strategy. At this stage, the most direct and effective way to make the enemy feel clear resistance is definitely not through harsh diplomatic protests; we must take concrete action.

"Slicing sausages is indeed a very vivid metaphor..."

He suddenly took the lens and focused the light, keeping it silently positioned on the main island of the Yingzhou Islands on the globe for a long time, until the sunlight shining obliquely in from the window scorched tiny marks on the globe through the lens.

"But you must understand, our country today is no longer the mighty Ming Dynasty of sixty years ago, where a stomp of its foot could shake the entire world. Military action is the most effective way to clearly create resistance for the enemy. But as you said, if the enemy feels resistance, they will adjust their policies. What if their adjustments are too drastic? What if... war reignites as a result?"

Seeing the hesitation on his usually decisive grandfather's face, he could only sigh in his heart that his grandfather when he was a prince was indeed different from his grandfather now that he was a saint.

Back then, as a prince on horseback, his primary concern was victory or defeat on the battlefield. He would charge into battle at any moment, sword in hand, whether facing foreign enemies or the corrupt officials in the court. This was how he always operated, and this is how he built his political standing and prestige.

The whip was turned inward, lashing out at all the officials.

With bayonets pointed outwards, we are invincible!

If it were in the past, the old man probably wouldn't have asked him this question at all, nor would he have hesitated.

But now his identity is not just that of a prince leading troops into battle; he is the emperor of the entire Tang Dynasty. As the saying goes, "a single hair can move the whole body." The war has only just ended, and the country is gradually emerging from the state of war. However, at this moment, the country still faces a situation where powerful enemies are eyeing it covetously, internal traitors are waiting for an opportunity to act, and ambitious people are jumping around.

The "Colombian flu," which began to ravage abroad, has now started to spread domestically, and in some places there is resistance and insincere defiance of the planned economy plan that is now being coordinated and planned by the empire.

In this context, the old man had much more to consider than just the old palace and garrison. Outsiders, and even many in the court today, might not realize this, but as the emperor, Li Zongdi knew very well that the Tang Dynasty had actually relied on a series of almost bluffing victories, coupled with geographical distance, to deter the West from completely partitioning the East.

Picking up a knife again often takes more courage than wielding it.

However, although the Tang Dynasty is a paper tiger to some extent, Li Che can clearly see from the history of another world that the West is also a group of paper tigers. After all, these bastards will never reason with you if they can avoid it.

If the Tang Dynasty were to back down now, or even if its counterattack were not strong enough, it would embolden Colombia and other Western countries to take further advantage. This could very well have a profound impact on the upcoming naval arms control treaty negotiations and the entire inter-war period.

"Do you know how much the national treasury spends each month just to feed the domestic population? How much grain needs to be transported north from the Indochina Peninsula?"

Li Zongdi turned around, his back to Li Che and the others, and looked at the larger world map hanging behind him. It was a map drawn during the heyday of the Ming Dynasty. The land lost in this war was marked in bright colors on the map, and the somewhat glaring red made the whole map seem a little broken.

The old emperor's voice continued: "That's why we've had quite a few unpleasant clashes with the locals in Annam. Just last week, Annam experienced a large-scale protest, and the self-government flags they were holding were made of linen from Victoria!"

At this moment, Tokugawa Ietatsu in the Imperial Study didn't dare to breathe. Neither of them expected that the topic they had been discussing, which was originally quite relaxed, would become so serious in such a short time. The low pressure in the room seemed so intense that it could be squeezed to make water out of it.

From his perspective, it seemed that the Emperor of Tang was in direct conflict with his eldest grandson on national strategic issues, and the two sides now appeared to have opposing views.

He couldn't help but look at his "good son-in-law" with some worry. To be honest, he really wanted to advise Li Che not to insist on his opinion anymore. After all, as someone who was well-versed in 5000 years of Eastern history, he knew very well that all the unified emperors of the dynasties born on this Central Plains—even those who were just emperors like Li Yuan—would not change their minds on many things they had already decided on.

If you try to force a correction, it may not end well.

But then his gaze suddenly fell on his daughter. On Tokugawa Akiko's face, he didn't seem to see any worry about Li Che. Tokugawa Akiko's eyes were fixed on Li Che, and her eyes seemed to be full of confidence.

Li Che gazed at his grandfather's somewhat weary back, recalling the details mentioned in the military intelligence report: His Majesty the Emperor had begun mixing sleeping pills with his stomach medicine this year.

After this entire world war, the old man's health is indeed not as good as before. War is the most exhausting for commanders, even their lives. Most famous generals in history have been plagued by various diseases. Especially in modern warfare, which is a thousand times more complex in terms of command than in ancient warfare, the mental toll on commanders is even more devastating.

However, Li Che knew that now was not the time to worry about his grandfather's health. Just as the old man had said, "If the country is inauspicious, then he is the ruler of the world."

He knew he had to add some weight to his grandfather's heart at this crucial moment. He solemnly took two steps forward, knelt down before Li Zongdi, and said, each word firm and deliberate:

"Grandpa, a single punch can prevent a hundred more!"

When Li Che looked up again, he saw the flames dancing in his grandfather's eyes. The previous turbidity in the old man's eyes disappeared at this moment, and the smoke and flames that the old man had experienced on the battlefield seemed to have returned to his eyes.

He heard the old emperor mutter to himself while looking at the shattered map: "I'd like to see whether their slicing knife is faster than our guns!"

-------------------------------------

When Li Che left the Imperial Study, he already had an imperial edict in his hand. Although it was an edict that had not gone through the Grand Secretariat, it was enough.

After bidding farewell to Tokugawa Ieda and Tokugawa Akiko at the gate of the Forbidden City, giving the father and daughter, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, some time to spend together and talk, he drove straight to the Privy Council.

While sitting in the car, he had already begun to consider the forces that could be used for interception. The Royal Navy of the Great Tang Dynasty currently has seven battlecruisers on the surface, four of which are super-dreadnoughts and three are dreadnoughts. It seems to have an absolute advantage over the two Lion-class strategic cruisers that are currently docked in Chilean ports.

However, in order to increase the probability of intercepting these two ships on the vast ocean, in addition to the necessary intelligence support, the fleet also needs a larger search range, which requires splitting the fleet. As a result, even having seven battlecruisers at hand is still somewhat insufficient.

It would be great if we could have a few more high-speed ships.

The moment that thought popped into his head, a second thought immediately and uncontrollably appeared in his mind—

Should we remove the speed disguises from the two Dragon Abysses?

Chapter 261 A single punch opens the way (2)

"Does Your Highness mean you are worried that our current high-speed ship force is insufficient?"